IC: Avalanche"I've got everything I need, let's get to it"IC: ButraA second "oof" escaped from Butra's mouth as he skid along the ground after getting sucker punched by the Sand Tarakava.As he got up, he noticed it had disappeared.

IC(Tajeh):"You don't meet many Matoran of Plasma on this island...." Tajeh thought aloud.IC(Noiatz Livic):"Um, if it isn't, I don't want to bother you too much," Noiatz started with a weak smile, "but I think I do need to be carried."

IC: Naehi and Tirus, Ta-Wahi"They are among the rarest of elemental tribes." Naehi agreed. "Bother?" Tirus said, emitting a gruff, yet jovial laugh as he picked the Vortixx up, his coarse, calloused hands contrasting with the fine clothing and soft skin of Noiatz. For a moment, as he began the ascension up the stone steps, his eyes lost their jovial shine as he realized that she reminded him of someone, and then he was smiling again, as he considered who.

I.C. Kranuka ran to Dymiun. He helped to cover him the injured toa. Hopefully neither of them would have to be eaten alive by the snarling Muaka. "Strange thing is, this is the third or fourth Muaka I have fought this week. These guys do get a little easier with experience."I.C. Kotahk could hear sounds underground. He pinpointed the sound of Xacax's voice, and smashed through the ground/ceiling with his pakari, and slid to the ground on a forming ice bridge. He warily searched the area for Xacax.

IC(Tajeh):"You don't meet many Matoran of Plasma on this island...." Tajeh thought aloud.IC(Noiatz Livic):"Um, if it isn't, I don't want to bother you too much," Noiatz started with a weak smile, "but I think I do need to be carried."

IC: Naehi and Tirus, Ta-Wahi"They are among the rarest of elemental tribes." Naehi agreed. "Bother?" Tirus said, emitting a gruff, yet jovial laugh as he picked the Vortixx up, his coarse, calloused hands contrasting with the fine clothing and soft skin of Noiatz. For a moment, as he began the ascension up the stone steps, his eyes lost their jovial shine as he realized that she reminded him of someone, and then he was smiling again, as he considered who.

IC(Tajeh): "I always wondered how there is hundreds of the mane main six Matoran-Fire, Water, Air, Stone, Earth and Ice-but hardly any of the other kinds."IC(Noiatz Livic): Noiatz was slightly shocked at how fast this titan picked her up. "Oh!" she exclaimed under her breath at his touch. Definitely wasn't like the touch of snow. She thought up some small talk real fast, just to keep it lively. "You said there was a forge up here?"

IC: Toa PalakoHe evaded the blow, with his kanohi.Then he saw thatKranukadeterment to take out the muaka, he made an incredible load peeeeep sound and fired it directly to the muaka.This sound distracted the rahi very much, he hoped his ally would take the cance of taking the muaka out.

IC: (Valria)Valria smiled and stepped into the bathroom. Tomorrow she would go looking for a job first thing in the morning. Perhaps it would be a good choice to bring Onuzek along, then again she also still had to work out. She still had muscle to gain, fighting stances to relearn. All of this would take time but she would keep at it. She stepped in the bathroom and closed the door behind her. The was a clattering noise, likely the sound of armor removal and then the sound of water. A few minutes later the sound of water had stopped and Valria returned, her armor looked a little bit more shiny and overall the scarred Toa seemed to look a like nicer than she had previously.Valria sat down on her bed, the sky grew darker as night fell over Ta-Koro and the two Toa of Gravity. There was of course that eerie red glow of Ta-Koro. Valria smiled and turned away from the window."Goodnight Onuzek," Valria, said melodically.

And, sorry for short post, but its all I could really come up with.IC: Onuzek"Good night," the gigantic Toa replied, already on his bed. A smile on his face, Onuzek closed his eyes, and it wasn't long before the hulking Ba-Toa fell asleep.

IC: Fehron, seizing the opportunity, bound the Muaka in chains, then formed a large hammer and knocked the Muaka unconscious. However, his victory was short lived, as, at that moment, a wall collapsed on him. Unfortunately, it had been the same wall the Kane-Ra's horns had been stuck in. Palako's sonic screech had matched the resonant frequency of the stone, weakening it enough to allow the bull to break free. Suddenly, the Sand Tarakava burst out once again and whacked the stunned Fehron right into Kranuka. The Sand Tarakava then disappeared once more.OOC: BTW, all Kotahk's going to find down there is a brass tube used as a speaker, not Xacax himself, although Xacax is at the other end of those tubes.

IC:The Sand Tarakava was driven out of the ground. Fehron attempted to whack it with his ridiculously large hammer, but the Tarakava merely retreated back into the ground and popped up elsewhere. Fehron tried again, but the Tarakava was too fast for him. Watching Fehron comically play a game of Whack-a-Tarakava, Dymiun teleported out of the way of the Kane-Ra's charge, causing it to stumble into one of the Sand Tarakava's holes. The Kane-Ra couldn't climb the sandy sides of the pit, which eventually collapsed, burying the beast up to its neck. Botan then took control of Butra's roots, entangling the helpless beast.

OOC:Time to get the plot ball rolling. IC: Miraul and his "Speed Squad" were forced to watch, as a cable car full of Matoran slipped into the lava fully. Slowly, in grief, they ascended, Volo Lutu pulling them up at a slow pace fitting of what they had witnessed.-----At the top, Miraul and the others gathered, they looked at one another around a fire in the Charred Forest, recovering. Night had begun to fall, and the scent of sulfur was in the air thanks to the lava. Takamaz had completed his assessment of the mechanical failure, and Bijackal informed the guard that they suspected a Vortixx.Slowly, the Toa readied themselves to talk. Miraul finally gathered the strength to speak. "Destiny has strange ways."Takamaz added, "I agree. It cannot be understood."Vilak finally shouted, "We ought to find whoever did this and pound them to pieces. We ought to-"Divan interrupted, "Maintain your calm, brother. Vengeance is not the true way of a warrior. Justice is, and true justice can be merciful. You have mastered the sword, but not the mind. There are skills behind your weapons you have yet to learn, and self-control is one of them.""Thank you, brother, for teaching my friend. He learned vigor to be good from me, but not the patience needed to use the flame that burns within. I suggest we set out-as Bijackal said, the trail of our enemy would grow cold in two ways on Mount Ihu, and spending the night there is not wise even with Toa of Fire and Plasma. The Inferno is what we need to beat, and beat it we shall."Miraul finished.---Four Anzaros recovered on the shores, and one filled up two tanks of magma."Where to next?""If we wish to find the others, then we need to find our way in the jungle."OOC:Thykius, Dekai, Akami, Kel and Miraul's team to Le-Wahi, Pala-Koro.

IC: ButraButra noticed the fruitless efforts of the Fe-Toa and proceeded to limit the Tarakava's options.seeing as how he was a Toa of Plantlife, he proceeded to plug every hole he could with thick, thorny roots except for one, leaving the Sand Tarakave with only one exit."Fehron, over there" Butra yelled and pointed at the one unplugged hole

IC:The Tarakava burst out of the remaining hole, where Fehron proceeded to clobber it. Xacax’s eerie voice could be heard again. “Well done, Toa. Now step through the gate to proceed.” The fourth gate opened, and the Toa stepped through. However, the instant they were all in, they began falling. They were seperated into groups of two, each landing in a different room: Butra and Geon, Botan and Palako, Fehron and Kotahk, the latter of who had his floor open up as well, and Dymiun and Kranuka. The first group wound up in a twisted labyrinth. The second found themselves in a bizarre puzzle room filled with switches and colored wall tiles. The third ended up in a room that was completely empty except for an exit several feet off the ground and out of reach. The last found themselves in a classic compactor room with the walls closing in and a heavy locked door with a strange assortment of gears covering it.OOC: In a second, big stone blocks are going to start falling in room #3, and the characters will have to avoid them while waiting for them to stack high enough to reach the exit.

IC Palako"Oh great", he said sarcastic, "I hate puzzles, you know what to do?" he asked his room-mateOOC: After this are we going to battle you?And how are we supposed to solve a puzzle, can you give a bit more info?

OOC: Here’s the lowdown on the puzzle rooms.#1: A maze. Simple enough, but there are lots of booby traps#2: The tiles are covering a door. Pull the levers. Each one moves one row or column left or right for rows and up or down for columns, but there’s no way to tell if a lever controls a row or column or which one. If you can arrange the tiles so a rectangle appears where the door is, the door will open.#3: The most exciting. Players dodge the falling blocks. Meanwhile, they use the stacking up blocks to reach the door.#4: Players rearrange the gears so they mesh, and the door will open before they are flattened.Don’t worry, you will get to battle after we finish the puzzle stage.IC 1: Geon wandered through the maze. Finding a door he opened it. The arrows that shot out of the door barely missed him. Walking back the way he came, he resolved not to open any more doors.IC 2: Botan quickly figured out the mechanisms of the room. He attempted to maneuver the red tiles into the door shape, but the levers were difficult to figure out. He ended up marking the levers to figure out what did what.IC 3: The blocks began falling. “Run!” yelled Fehron, shoving Kotahk out of the way.IC 4: The walls began closing in. “Uh-oh...” said Dymiun, who was furiously experimenting with the gears.

IC: ButraButra folloed behind Geon, and was lucky to be behind when the two avoided the first booby trap."So, no more opening doors I take it?" Butra queried, Geon's continued silence was all the confirmation he needed as he refrained from opening any other doors."If I may, I could perhaps use my Kanohi to keep an eye out for any booby traps" Butra offered, gesturing to the lenses on the left half of his mask, "and perhaps find a way out"

IC: Avalanche"Haven't been to Onu-Koro in a while" Avalanche mumbled before he turned to Atrox."I call him "Tobduk" becuase I don't care about how clever or funny his "nickname" is. If it works, it works, end of story. I don't see him complaining.""Though if you have any better suggestions, far be it for me to keep you from continuing to make a fool out of yourself."

IC: Avalanche"How about, say, his actual name? Because, y'know, that's the least imaginative option, meaning that it would fit you like a ***** glove.""Were you even paying attention, he said he wanted to remain anonymous, which suits me just fine"

IC: AvalancheAvalanche shrugged "must've slipped my mind. Quite frankly I don't care""Are we leaving or not? I'm in the mood for breaking something right now, and unless we grab those Ma-whatever their name was I'll have to resort to breaking something over the back of funhouse over here"

IC Toa Palako:Remarking his ally has figured the mechanism he hoped it would not take too much time to completly solve the puzzle

IC BotanBotan finally managed to open up the door. They walked out into a completely empty room with no exits, save a locked door. Xacax's voice could be heard, telling them to wait for the rest.IC GeonJust as the two started moving again, a loud click could be heard. A huge metal ball dropped down in front of them and started rolling towards them.

IC: (Valria)That was the first night Valria had no haunting dreams. Valria let out an audible yawn and stretched her arms out as she looked around the room, she smiled when she saw Onuzek lying on his bed a visible grin on the gargantuan Toa's face. Valria got out of bed and stretched. Wraping one around her back, stretching her triceps. She bent over stretching her arms and fingers to her toes. After a few more stretches Valria felt ready to go for a morning workout. Not wanting to wake her friend she quickly scribbled down a note.Hey Onu~I'm going to be working out where we met yesterday, out in the Charred Forest. If I am not back when you wake it's probably because I'm still working out. I think you can get breakfast here, but I am going to eat when I get back.See ya later!-Val.When that was finished Valria just made sure her armor fitted right. It had been through a lot, like her, but honestly these things were rags and were only going to be attracting the attention that Valria really didn't want. For one the armor was far more revealing than she would have liked and it honestly didn't give her much benefit unless she planned on it serving as distraction. Valria grumbled under her breath about such circumstances as she ran and jogged to the Charred Forest.Sweat had already begun to form on her mask and she could feel her heart beating, her heartlight blinking her current heart rate. Seeing the branches Onuzek had crashed into and the imprint she had left on the clearing she was sure this was the place. First off she would try to draw from memory punching and kicking. Something Kuyre had trained her way back when there was still a team.Valria made a few short jabs with her left and a hook with her left. Though even know her exact memory on how to do it was rather faint. She could still continue with the other lifts to build up muscle, but she was going to have to find or make some sort of gym if she wanted to make some headway. Perhaps she could get a job at one of the smithies in Ta-Koro and carry some of the stuff around there, perhaps make her own."Devotion, diligence. One must focus on the path ahead. Working out, getting better, becoming a hero again. It all takes perseverance, drive. You just need to keep pushing forward, fighting every the step of the way like you have already." She whispered to herself, honestly the words of encouragement helped event though she was saying them to herself. She needed to start somewhere and this was her start.OOC: Anyone can feel free to drop in on Val's workout, but she probably won't leave this time around.

IC: Butra"Oh, that's unfortunate" Butra exclaimed as he saw the ball rolling towards them.quickly putting his powers to use, he generated a pair of wooden beams, like skids for the metal ball.He tilted a section of the skids slightly away from them while he covered near the wall, attemtping to direct the ball right past them."Feel free to join in anytime you like" he said to his companion as he added as many support beams as he could manage in the short time remaining.

IC Geon"Round ball, square corridor! Quick! Hide in the corners!" Geon yelled in a panic, diving for the corner, hoping the ball would roll right past him.IC Xacax"You will find out soon enough, once you make it through my traps. In the meantime, here's a friend to keep you occupied." A door opened in the ceiling and water started pouring in. But even more unpleasant was the Takea shark that followed the water into the flooded room.

IC (Garn)A gauntleted fist slammed into Avalanche's gut, sending him stumbling backwards, gasping for breath. Garn turned to Atrox."That help?"Just as Atrox opened his mouth to thank Garn, said fist connected with his jaw in an uppercut. Atrox went reeling."Could the two of you just shut the Karz up so we can get going?" the Lesterin said.

IC: Atrox (Ta-Koro)I moved my jaw around until I heard a clicking sound, and knew that it was back in the position it belonged in. I'd had a lot of practice with that trick, and it meant that I hadn't suffered too much damage.Avalanche, however, was a different story. Were he to come out of that without being winded, disoriented, and unable to walk properly, there would have been a considerable amount of godmodding going on.

IC: AvalancheAvalanche considered returning the favor, but upon Garn assulting Atrox, he reasoned it was an acceptable trade-off. Besides, that punch gave him quite the cramp."I'm with Garn, I want to get out of here as fast as possible" Avalanche muttered.

IC: NiverysNiverys jumped to the side as a fireball went flying at her. Despite her affinity to fire, it didn't save her from being burnt. Niverys cursed as part of her armor was singed by the attack. She then got to her feet and shook her head, trying to get her thoughts together.Oh, boy, how do I get myself into these situations? She thought to herself and then it came to her. Oh, yeah, don't try to steal from one of Mata-Nui's most biggest crime bosses...Niverys dodged another fireball sent flying after her by one of the boss's hired muscle; an all-red sentry wearing a Pakari. She'd seen his super-strength in action earlier and it wasn't something that she particularly looked forward into going against. However, Niverys wondered how this guy even became a Toa. He certainly wasn't honorable or even smart at that. Maybe he just got lucky like she herself did. Many had wondered the same about Niverys and sometimes she often pondered the thought too. She did appreciate the power that she now had. She wasn't a better thief; she just could defend herself more effectively.One example of these powers was the ability to control fire and that she did, Niverys dodged one of the Toa's fireballs, noting that it was significantly smaller. Niverys smirked underneath her mask. The cool dude had just run out of energy. A lot of Toa didn't seem to realize that elemental energy wasn't infinite. He was running on steam and now was the best time to act. Niverys put her hands together and shot them forward, a large fireball shooting out of her hands and flying towards him. He wasn't very fast so the man rushed the fireball, hoping his armor and affinity to fire would help him. Luckily, Niverys had foreseen that he'd do something like this. She shot right out of the fireball and slashed at his shoulder with one of her knives. She landed behind him and pulled out her whip so quickly that he didn't have a chance. The big lug was still trying to keep the bleeding down when her bullwhip came across his back and he hit the floor. On his back was the mark of her whip, somewhat of a message. The boss of this cool dude should be able to recognize it as her personal brand. No one else on the island used a whip like she did.Walking away from the defeated Toa, Niverys tossed what he had came for in her hand. It was a small black diamond, not a single scratch on it and held in a single piece of cloth. "Finders keepers," She muttered, but deep inside she was shaking a little from the fact that she knew the goon's boss wouldn't be satisfied. He'd seen more thugs after her to retrieve the Black Diamond, probably in greater number too.But she would be ready.

IC: (Valria)Yep, it was back to push-ups again. Valria wasn't complaining. Working out helped her focus on the present. The future was still too far away to judge and constantly reflecting on her past had done nothing but make her more depressed.The purple Toa of Gravity pushed herself up, legs and arms, struggling to hold up her own weight. She exhaled pushing the air out of her lungs as she pushed herself up.One.Then she was back down again, her body was caked once again in her sweat and the ash of the Charred Forest. It was rather difficult and even now her arms and legs felt on fire but she had to push on.Two.This shouldn't have been so hard? Why was it so hard, karz there were Toa, Turaga, and Matoran twice her age and yet she was sure they wouldn't have had as tough as a time as she was having.Three.She had been malnourished, she hadn't been able to keep in shape, Karz, her powers had only recently returned to her. Transformation like what she wanted, it wasn't going to be instaneous.Four.It was already starting to feel strangely better, like even though it was painful, difficult. She wanted to continue.Five.That had came and went quicker than Valria expected. Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed.Six.She just had to push a little harder, grit her teeth and dig her heels in.Seven.Valria wanted to laugh, but knew she could not. A fire had been lit in her dark green eyes, she never expected to get this far today.Eight.Self-improvement was constant. It was a fight and she would have to fight every step of the way. Valria was fine with that, Toa fought every day of their lives, it was in their nature. It was in hers.Nine.Really? How had she gotten this far, that fast? Yesterday she had been falling flat on her face. Today she was already at nine pushups.10.Wait. What? There was no way, but at that moment Valria's arms and legs buckled and she rolled onto her side laughing. Sure it was only ten but she had barely gotten through two the day before. She had completed 10 today and seemed to be getting better. However if that had already came as easily, then she smiled as she started doing sit-ups. She wanted to feel that limit again and she wanted to charge right through it again. It was a good feeling, for once she actually felt good. Maybe when she felt ready she could actually do something and make something of her life. She could feel the strain in her stomach, but she kept on with her workout. Pain was a good reminder that you were still alive, that she was still alive.

IC. Charred Forest. Archery practice.Slice.The target slung back on its rope, swinging back and forth, and spinning a bit, as the arrow entered and stuck. The sloppily painted circle had been impaled many times in the past few hours. The smaller circle inside had faired better. The arrow had hit off-center, knocking one of its fellow arrows off of the Rahi hide circle. Rejection is tough; he cynically analyzed as the slim piece of wood hit the ground.Slice.Slice.Slice.Three more arrows failed to hit their target. One was too high. It hit a rock with the same crunch as the branch crushed underfoot as he stomped irritably. The next grazed the target, missing just barely. He sighed. The final was a misfire, spiraling pitifully out of the bow. He picked it up for examination. It had fallen. In a fight, that meant it had lost all value. Logically, it was defeated. He notched it again. He steadied the bow at the target. Well, steadied isn't really the word. Both hands were trembling. He attempted to level it at the target again. In his arm he felt the same weakness that had caused it to misfire the first time. He tried to keep his muscles steady, but it just wasn't working. He cursed. He blinked. He let go.The arrow sailed, sinking into the ground again. It had missed the target. Kuyre simply sighed. His marksmanship was pathetic. He was pathetic. He drew his sword, leveling it to his stomach. He had gotten by with archery these past months. He had lost himself and his problems in the bow and arrow. But now, he realized he wasn't truly living. There was no meaning to live by. No reason to live at all."Burn in Karz, Telric.""Come down here and make me."He plunged the sword into his side, falling back against the ground and passing out...only to wake up minutes later. He wasn't dead. He waited minutes. Hours. He wasn't dead. This was his second attempt to kill himself. The first had failed, people from the nearby village coming to his aid. Maybe someone Up There didn't want him to die? He didn't know, but somehow the stab didn't want to be lethal.He sat up against a tree. Now he had to deal with the pain.